I2: Feet of Clay

by **Will Stanton** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:10 pm

"It's...I don't know, Sam.

There were...I don't know how many. They jumped me and took me away and...

...do you know how long I was out for?"

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:13 pm

"A couple of days maybe? It's hard to tell because sometimes you're around without... walking around, you know?"

by **Will Stanton** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:17 pm

Will nodded.

"It didn't feel like a couple of days. They...jumped me. And I could get away...and even when I went to sleep, they were there..."

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:19 pm

"What? You mean like... in your head?"

by **Will Stanton** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:25 pm

"They were there when I closed my eyes, in my dreams. That's...that's why I wanted to make sure you got them all."

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:29 pm

"We did. I mean, physically, aye?"

"But I guess I don't know if they could've done something weird to you. I don't know how fairies work."

by **Will Stanton** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:32 pm

"They work nastily. They're...

They're destructive."

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:34 pm

"Well they're little saw-toothed bastards with a penchant for stabbing."

"And ah... I don't think that was just red dye on their hats."

by **Will Stanton** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:42 pm

"They complained about my lack of blood. That's why they stabbed me so many times. But I didn't make any for them. Who knows what they would have done then?"

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:43 pm

"Judging by downtown... nothing good."

"This could just be trauma. But... I could check. I mean, I'm not an expert..."

by **Will Stanton** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:45 pm

"I mean, if you're comfortable..."

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:48 pm

"I don't know if 'comfortable' is it, Will."

"I just don't like knowing you're suffering, aye?"

by **Will Stanton** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:52 pm

Will nodded.

"Then..do what you can do."

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:57 pm

"Alright. I'll... try not to do any harm, at the least," she says with a nervous smile as she remembers what Miriam told her.

"I'd say to make yourself comfortable but..." She gestures to the cot.

by **Will Stanton** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:58 pm

"Don't worry Sam, I trust you," Will smiled, closing her eyes.

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:01 pm

Sam leans back into the chair she's sitting in, closing her own eyes before she begins the descent into Will's mind.

by **Will Stanton** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:08 pm

The first thing that Sam would notice was different was the near absence of a wall.

In most people's minds, there's a clear barrier between 'outside' and 'inside'. Even non-telepaths have some natural protection, although it's usually nothing particularly fancy. Here, though, there was just the faintest whisper of a barrier before Sam is in Will's mindscape, as if whatever walls had been there had been eroded away. It almost certainly would be an odd feeling, and the closest she'd be able to compare it to would be some of the patients in pure catatonic states at Muir--and even they usually had a little more residual barrier. Any telepath worth their stuff could get fairly easy access as things stood.

The second thing that Sam would notice is the utter wasteland that was Will's mindscape.

It looked like a nuclear bomb had gone off. Sticking towards the sky was the shattered remains of buildings, standing up against a dark, almost blank void. Some structures remained intact enough to possibly enter, but most of them at least looked unsafe, if they even had walls and a ceiling standing. They also were covered in moss, and worn down from elements over time. Something used to be here, but it would take more than a first glance to figure out what.

Now, not all of it was a wasteland. In fact, in one spot in particular, things had been tidied up quite nicely, actually. The building had been cleaned and repaired. It also DISTINCTLY had the mental fingerprint of one Miriam Bell on it. In front of that building were a couple Wills, leaning against it for support. They looked a a bit worse for wear, with some bruises and cuts clearly visible. Still, they were standing, and that's a plus.

The third thing that Sam would notice was the absence of a solid ground.

All the buildings seemed to stick up from the ground halfway through, like they were somewhat buried in it. The 'ground' was perfectly flat and level, but went halfway up doorways, as if everything had been three feet higher at one point.

The fourth thing that Sam would notice would be about a billion footprints ON that ground. Something--or, perhaps more accurately, a great MANY somethings--had been running around in here in the not-too-distant past. They weren't humanoid footprints, either.

The fifth thing that Sam would notice would be a strange humming sound--JUST on the limits of hearing, as it were. It wasn't a buzz or a drone--it was hard to make out, but it felt more...lyrical. Almost pleasant, though it would be hard to make it out much thanks to fact that it was on the limits of hearing.

The sixth thing that Sam would notice was that she was sinking into the some warm clay as she stood there.

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:13 pm

"It's like something... melted," she muses, extricating her feet and trying to keep moving to avoid sinking.

She heads for the place Miriam tidied up.

"Well I guess that's... helpful. Sort of."

by **Will Stanton** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:18 pm

Seeing her coming over, one of the Wills waved a little bit, wincing with the effort.

They had apparently dusted at some point--this part looked MUCH more orderly and together, with the rubble and debris stacked in neat piles now rather than all over the place. You know, home sweet home and all that.

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:20 pm

"Hey there," she says as she nears.

"I'm just here to see about the ah... stampede," she mentions, gesturing at all the nonhuman footprints.

by **Will Stanton** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:21 pm

"I've got to admit, it's getting better," the one Will laughed. "A little better, all the time."

"Can't get much worse," the other one muttered.

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:24 pm

"Are those... song lyrics?" She tilts her head.

by **Will Stanton** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:27 pm

"It doesn't really matter what chords I play, what words I say or time of day it is. There was music, and wonderful roses, they tell me, in sweet fragrant meadows of dawn and dew."

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:29 pm

"Well I guess... Will was a juke box for awhile."

"Did any of you see where the ah... Red Meanies went?" She asks, hoping to work in their milieu.

by **Will Stanton** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:42 pm

They looked at each other, then nodded.

"Day after day, alone on the hill, the man with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still. But nobody wants to know him. They can see that he's just a fool, and he never gives an answer."

"Christ," the other one griped. "You KNOW it ain't easy. YOU know how hard it can be."

The first one nodded, and turned back to Sam.

"Bad little kids moved into our neighborhood. Wouldn't do nothing right, just sitting down and looks so good. Well, he put some tacks on teacher's chair, put's chewing gum in little girl's hair."

The second one continued. "Junior's head is hard as a rock, but, well on the way, his head in the clouds, the man of a thousand voices talking perfectly loud. And when they turn their backs on the boys, they creep up from behind. Bang! Bang! Maxwell's Silver Hammer came down upon their heads. Bang bang, Maxwell's silver hammer made sure that they were dead."

The two high-fived one another.

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:45 pm

"So you... got rid of them? Is that why you're all banged up?"

by **Will Stanton** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 10:06 pm

They nodded. "With a little help from our friends," they said, looking off towards the center of the ruins.

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 10:07 pm

"Should I go check on them? I know it's kind of... not steady out there."

by **Will Stanton** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 10:17 pm

They looked at each other unsure.

"Um..." one said, looking like he was struggling to find words.

"It's..."

"In spite of all the danger, Blackbird, fly. When you've seen beyond yourself, then you may find peace of mind is waiting there."

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 10:19 pm

"...I'm not the blackbird," she sighs.

"I'm just a friend. I know he's hurting. That you're hurting."

"I can handle myself, though."

by **Will Stanton** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 10:23 pm

They nodded, but as Sam turned to take a step away, one of them stepped forward, stammering.

"Time...

I've watched the ripples change their size, but never leave the stream of warm impermanence. So, the days float through my eyes, but still, the days seem the same.

Don't want to be a richer man, just going to have to be a different man. Time may change me, but I can't trace time."

Nodding, as if he had just delivered some sort of warning, he stepped back.

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 10:25 pm

"Will's still Will, no matter what's buried here," she says over her shoulder before starting out for the center of the ruins.

by **Will Stanton** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 10:36 pm

Walking through the ruins, Sam would eventually approach the center. At least, that's where all the footprints were headed--aimed towards the dead center of the ruins.

Passing a rise in the clay, there was...an interesting site.

The bodies (or mental constructs?) of 30 to 40 imps lay on the ground. They were very charred, as if they had been on fire--or at the center of an explosion. They lay out in a sort of ring formation from the VERY center, as if a great force had emanated out of the center, blowing them all back.

Hovering and floating just above the clay in that precise center was a small wooden chest, made of some fine wood--mahogany? Oak? Something really nice, for sure. It was with patterns and spirals etched all over the surface of the box.

It felt...right. Not that it looked like it belonged here; far from it. But it was like a swirl of peanut butter inside of some chocolate. Not native, perhaps, but you'd have to be heartless to call it wrong. It was harder to put into words more than that.

There were also three very large, complicated looking padlocks keeping said box closed, one red, one silver and one black. There was something carved on the box, as well.

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 10:43 pm

"Is that what she thinks I made?" She muses, approaching warily.

"I don't know how you'd make something like this by accident. And I... I don't think I'm that powerful," she reasons, looking at the damage.

by **Will Stanton** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 10:49 pm

It WAS quite damaging! It looked like the imps had charged straight at it and were launched back--like a giant bug zapper, for lack of better words. Sam certainly didn't remember creating this, and it didn't have her fingerprints on it, like the building someone had created, MIRIAM.

Then again...it wasn't entirely unfamiliar. I mean, some of the carvings and things looked vaguely Irish, and Sam might have seen stuff like that growing up. And, now that you mention it, the humming DID sound vaguely familiar, and it seemed to be closest at the box. But these are surely all coincidences, right?

Carved on the box was a simple legend: Fulacht na Mór Ríoghna.

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 10:52 pm

She shakes her head as she nears it.

"That doesn't make sense. That's a place, not a..."

by **Will Stanton** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 10:58 pm

"Not a description?" a voice called out.

Sitting on top of the box--and very explicitly NOT HAVING BEEN THERE BEFORE--sat Will Stanton.

He...she? It was hard to tell...was wearing a purple velvet frock coat, some beige-cream colored slacks, an odd purple vest and a bow tie. On her...his?...head was a velvet top hat.

He...let's go with he...smiled down at Sam.

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 11:02 pm

"...someone had a copy of Willy Wonka at the base, didn't they?"

She peers at the new fellow. People can just appear in dreams. This makes a certain sort of sense.

"Still, you're the first one that doesn't talk in song lyrics."

by **Will Stanton** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 11:04 pm

"I won't be the last, either, Sam. It IS Sam here, right? And just Sam?"

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 11:06 pm

"Just Sam. Not... who you think I might be."

"I mean, I wish I could have helped him like this, but I'm just... me, aye?"

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